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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Chap. Copyright No. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A HEARTENING WORD 



MR. FEARING. 



A HEARTENING WORD 



FOR 



MR. FEARING 



Or, Cheer for Doubting Pilgrims 



BY THE / 

REV. WILLIAM P. PATTERSON 



PHILADELPHIA 
THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 




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• 757 



Copyright, 1897, by The Trustees of 

The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath- 
School Work 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 



Introduction 7 

I. — The Covenant of Redemption . . 11 
II. — The Witness of the Written 

Word 19 

III. — Our Calling and Election ... 27 

IV. — The Ideal Christian Manhood . 33 

V.— Obedient Service 41 

VI. — The Prevailing Intercession . . 49 

VII.— The Celestial Country 59 

5 



INTRODUCTION. 

1 HOSE who are familiar with Bunyan's 
Pilgrim's Progress will readily recall the Mr. 
Fearing whose character is so minutely de- 
scribed therein. He is represented as a man 
" of choice spirit," who " had the root of the 
matter" in him, and who was always "very 
tender of sin." He felt that he must needs 
reach the Celestial Country ; that he should 
die if he came not to it ; and yet he also felt 
that if ever he did get there, it would be al- 
most too good to be true. He never could 
be quite sure that he was actually in the way 
thereto. He was always afraid that he should 
come short of whither he had a desire to go. 
Difficulties, lions, or Vanity Fair, he feared 
not at all ; it was only sin, death, and hell 
that were to him a terror, and for the reason 
that he had some doubts as to his personal 
interest in the Celestial Country, — his fear 
was that he might not be accepted at last. 
He "lay roaring at the Slough of Despond 
for about a month," and for all he saw sev- 
eral of his fellow pilgrims go over before him, 
7 



Introduction. 

he could not muster up sufficient courage 
himself to venture ; nor would he turn back. 
However, one bright morning, when the sun- 
shine was filling every heart with gladness 
and peace, in some way unaccountable to 
himself, he passed over ; yet could he scarce 
believe he was really across. Through mani- 
fold fears and perplexities, and in much dis- 
tress of mind and heart, yet with the way 
made singularly passable before him, he fin- 
ally was enabled to reach the Celestial City 
and to enter into its rest and peace and joy. 

It has occurred to the writer that the Mr. 
Fearing of the Pilgrim's Progress is repre- 
sentative of not a few professing Christians. 
Of choice spirit, and sincerely longing to be 
constant and loyal followers of Christ, they 
yet fail, strangely enough, to realize as they 
might and should that the gift of God, " the 
ageless life," is a present possession, and has 
promise of still greater and better things to 
come. Assurance of hope and perseverance 
to the end seem good enough to talk about 
theologically, but of little practical value in 
the religious experience. 

What Christian minister cannot testify to 
the greater or less prevalence, in his own 
pastoral experience, of the questionings and 
uncertainties that caused so much needless 
distress to the Mr. Fearing of the allegory ? 

The object of the writer is to show, briefly 
8 



Introduction. 

and plainly, the divine warrant for the very 
fullest and most joyful confidence in the ab- 
solute certainty of personal salvation ; and if 
what follows in these pages shall be used in 
fortifying the hearts of even a few timid and 
joyless ones, and in helping them to see that 
there is the very strongest reason for the 
most cheerful acceptance of the precious gift 
of the " ageless life," and no reason at all for 
the least misgiving regarding its reality and 
blessed outcome, the praise shall be to Him 
to whom rightly belong all praise and honor 
and power and glory. 

The Manse, 

Central Presbyterian Church, 
Downingtown, Pa. 
8th August, 1897. 



THE COVENANT OF REDEMPTION. 

A MOST important truth to bear in mind, 
if one would always have assurance of hope 
as an encouraging fact of priceless value in 
the religious experience, is that, when our 
Lord himself affirms that not one of those to 
whom he gives eternal life can ever perish, 
such impossibility arises, not from anything 
in the believer himself, but simply from God's 
immutability of purpose and promise. 

For confirmation of this, look at the cove- 
nant of redemption. In all the word of 
God there is but one dominant idea, — human 
salvation by a divine Redeemer. Herein is 
the sum-total of God's thoughts. And the 
apostle Paul, viewing with that splendid intel- 
lect of his the exalted character of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, and all that he had suffered for 
man, very appropriately terms the salvation 
thus purchased, "the great salvation." In 
providing so great salvation each Person in 
the Godhead had a distinctive share. 



A Heartening Word. 

i. 

Note the Father's share. Human redemp- 
tion is not of the nature of an afterthought 
with God. It was not first devised and re- 
vealed after man had fallen from the estate 
wherein he was created. Salvation, we are 
told, is from all eternity (Eph. iii. n). Be- 
fore God entered upon the stupendous work 
of the material creation, he thought of man, 
saw him created in perfect knowledge, right- 
eousness, and holiness, saw him yield to the 
tempter and fall, and, thus thinking of and 
seeing the human creation and the human 
defection, he thought also of, and determined 
upon, human redemption. 

" Eternal election, profoundly considered, 
requires eternal atonement for its support. 
Both are eternal, as all divine realities are 
eternal.' * In his first epistle, Peter speaks 
to us of the Lamb foreknown before the 
foundation of the world, but manifested at 
the end of the times, — eternal reality becom- 
ing temporal fact; and, in his high-priestly 
prayer, our Lord himself carries us back into 
eternity where we behold "the redeeming 
relationship between the Father and the 
Son. Even on Calvary, as temporal actual- 
ity, the Lamb slain is only a figure of speech, 
and, of course, it can be no more than a 
figure of speech as eternal reality in the 
bosom of God. But whether in time or in 



The Covenant of Redemption. 

eternity, whether on Calvary or in the bosom 
of God, the figure must stand for something. 
For us the meaning is and must be, that not 
election only, but the atonement also is eter- 
nal. And so the relationship of God to 
moral evil stands forth as an eternal rela- 
tionship." 

Man might rebel and reject God, but God 
would open the way for him to return to his 
former devotion and love. The beginning of 
time was indeed the first revelation of what 
had been passing in the mind of the Creator, 
— that is to say, when the first man turned 
his back upon God, thus cutting himself off 
from the benefits of sonship with God, he was 
not smitten as he deserved to be, but was 
allowed to live, and that being allowed to live 
was for him the inauguration of divine grace 
in Jesus Christ. 

Yet see how, with the introduction of hu- 
man sinfulness into the world, the human 
race easily and rapidly degenerated. So 
swiftly and so positively did men descend 
to whatever was unclean and repulsive that 
God was obliged to adopt the most effective 
measures for the cleansing of the filth that 
had been accumulating. One might well 
suppose that with such a visitation as the 
flood a most wholesome lesson would have 
been learned ; but what is the fact ? The sad 
history is before us : man ceased not sin- 
13 



A Heartening Word. 

ning! With the new growth of the race 
there was a proportionate development in 
wickedness. Kingdom after kingdom rose 
and fell ; upon the hearts of the rulers of the 
earth was felt a mighty power — the power of 
Him who turns the hearts of all men as he 
pleases. He went down into Egypt and 
with a strong hand brought forth his chosen, 
keeping them company through all their 
wilderness journey, as Guide and Protector, 
until he had them safely placed in the land 
prepared for their habitation. Even then he 
did not forsake them: with them and their 
rulers he was ever present, guiding them lov- 
ingly even into the land of their oppressors, 
his very mercy smiting them when needful, 
and binding them up ; multiplying judgments 
and blessings for the best results, and fencing 
them in so that in the course of time a rem- 
nant was preserved for their return to their 
native land. 

Only God could then see that the oppres- 
sion of the conqueror was none other than 
the tender love of the Most High ; and that 
the captivity of the chosen people meant 
mercy. Such a method of procedure was 
in reality the divine inbringing of salvation. 

With the further passage of time came also 

the passing away of Babylon and its glory, the 

culmination of proud, philosophical Athens, 

the universal sway of Rome and her thunder- 

14 



The Covenant of Redemption. 

ing legions. Many a fierce battle was then 
fought, and many a field dyed with blood, 
but to whom did it ever occur to recognize in 
such events the unfolding of the purpose of 
grace ? Linked indissolubly together by sal- 
vation were all the events of that period of 
the world's history. And not until the dark- 
ness had become thick darkness, and the 
wickedness of man had become wellnigh 
universal, and formalism had grown to be 
the rule with but few exceptions, did God 
deem it wise to shed abroad the true light, to 
dissipate the gloom, and to expose and con- 
demn the formalism. In the fullness of the 
times God was manifest in the flesh, Jesus 
was born, the true light, indeed, that lighteth 
every man that cometh into the world. w . 

ii. 
Notice, moreover, the Son's share in this 
covenant of redemption. We are more or 
less familiar with his earthly life — how de- 
spised and rejected, of men, he was ! Just 
what he endured in the way of grief and 
humiliation and trial we can never fully un- 
derstand. And only he could give himself 
to the work of redemption by way of suffer- 
ing and death. Not even the highest angel 
might have the prospect of laying aside the 
glory of the heavenly world to tabernacle for 
a season in the flesh to raise men from sin 

15 



A Heartening Word. 

and death to life and peace and joy. Only 
the equal of the Father, the well-beloved, 
could veil himself in humanity's form and 
submit to unspeakable degradation in order 
that the divine will might be accomplished 
to its utmost requirement. How even the 
human nature of our blessed Lord shrank 
from this humiliation we may know by re- 
calling the agony in the garden, and that 
most pathetic utterance, " Father, if it be 
possible, let this cup pass from me: never- 
theless not as I will, but as thou wilt." 

His life of solitude, of three-and-thirty years 
— alone even among his disciples, none of 
whom could properly sympathize with him, 
none of whom could share his feelings, or 
enter deeply into his thoughts — was longer, 
deeper, fuller, by reason of its very intensity, 
than that of all the patriarchs, than that of 
all men. He lived it for the one purpose of 
effecting our redemption. 

in. 
Think, too, of the Spirit's share in this 
covenant of redemption. The presence of 
the Holy Spirit in the world, and his gracious 
ministry in behalf of men, enhance the glory 
of this divine plan. It is utterly impossible 
for one, in the spirit of prayer, to read un- 
moved the story of our Lord's life. We trace 
that life, in wonder and awe, from its begin- 
16 



The Covenant of Redemption. 

ning in the manger-cradle to its ending upon 
the cross. But the fact is that the life of the 
Spirit, the Holy One in an unholy world, 
when rightly and reverently viewed, must 
seem far more pathetic and more to be won- 
dered at. What patience ! What forbearance 
with human folly ! What long-suffering with 
human guilt ! What struggling with you and 
me ! And for what ? Simply that Christ may 
be magnified ! What resistings and quench- 
ings of his earnest and loving entreaties by 
your spirit and mine ! Sensitive, full of zeal 
as was Christ himself, yet infinitely endur- 
ing ! Why does he remain ? Why does he 
not give up the world to vengeance long and 
mercifully delayed ? Only because he is here, 
obedient to the divine will, to accomplish this 
great redemption. He also will perfect the 
great salvation. 

We see, then, that the good work of human 
redemption is so vast and important as to 
have engaged the eternal attention of the 
adorable Trinity : the Father sustaining the 
rights of Godhead in the appointment of the 
method of redemption ; the Son, as Mediator, 
procuring it by his incarnation, obedience, 
and death ; and the Holy Spirit applying and 
making effectual every benefit in the heart 
of the true believer. 

And in view of all this the question is per- 
3 17 



A Heartening Word. 

tinent : Would God the Father have devised 
such a wonderful plan of redemption ; would 
the Son have been willing to offer his life a 
ransom for many ; would the Holy Spirit 
consent so long to abide in the world, were 
it possible that the good work, although 
begun, should fail of completion — were it 
possible, in other words, that the subjects of 
redeeming grace should perish eternally? 
What wonder, then, that such an one as the 
gifted Paul should exult, " I know whom I 
have believed"? 



18 



II. 



THE WITNESS OF THE WRITTEN 
WORD. 

i. 

INOT only in the covenant of redemption, 
to which reference has been made, are we 
privileged to ground our assurance of hope, 
but also in the explicit declarations of the 
Scriptures themselves, to a few passages of 
which the attention of the reader is now in- 
vited. What mean, for example, those 
ancient words, " Yet shall the righteous hold 
on his way, and he that hath clean hands 
shall wax stronger and stronger " ? Job xvii. 
9. Suppose the faith of God's people is at 
times shaken by the permission of what may 
seem unmerited sufferings. Still they may 
know that God shall overrule them to the 
perfecting of their faith, that from the most 
opposing forces they shall draw not a little 
of inspiration and strength for maintaining 
a more earnest continuance in their good 
way. " The steps of a good man are 
ordered by the Lord : and he delighteth in 
his way. Though he fall, he shall not be 
utterly cast down : for the Lord upholdeth 

19 



A Heartening Word. 

him with his hand." Ps. xxxvii. 23, 24. Of 
David, whom we may regard as the repre- 
sentative of the true believer, the Lord 
speaks, " If his children forsake my law, and 
walk not in my judgments ; if they break 
my statutes, and keep not my command- 
ments ; then will I visit their transgres- 
sion with the rod, and their iniquity with 
stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness 
will I not utterly take from him, nor suf- 
fer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant 
will I not break, nor alter the thing that is 
gone out of my lips." Ps. lxxxix. 30-34. In 
the book of Proverbs, where the morning 
sun, in its increasing radiance, is used as a 
symbol, it is said of the just that their " path 
is as the shining light, that shineth more and 
more unto the perfect day." Pro v. iv. 18. 
Going from strength to strength, from glory 
to glory, the believer finally reaches his 
meridian splendor, shining forth as the sun 
in the kingdom of his Father. 

Then recall those wonderful words ad- 
dressed of old by the Lord to his people, 
whereby he greatly comforted and assured 
them in view of their future, — words just as 
applicable to-day to every believer : " For 
the mountains shall depart, and the hills be 
removed ; but my kindness shall not depart 
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my 
peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath 



Witness of the Written Word. 

mercy on thee." Is. liv. 10. In the prophecy 
of Jeremiah we find God comparing himself 
to a faithful and ever-watchful preceptor, fol- 
lowing his pupils everywhere, to direct words 
and gestures, promising those whom he shall 
gather out of all lands that " They shall be 
my people, and I will be their God : and I 
will give them one heart, and one way, that 
they may fear me forever, for the good of 
them, and of their children after them : and I 
will make an everlasting covenant with them, 
that I will not turn away from them, to do 
them good ; but I will put my fear in their 
hearts, that they shall not depart from me." 
Jer. xxxii. 38-40. 

Then finally, we have the words, bearing 
directly upon this point, of him who was and 
is the Truth : '* This is the will of him which 
hath sent me, that of all which he hath given 
me I should lose nothing, but should raise it 
up again at the last day. Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, He that believeth on me hath ever- 
lasting life." 

If then, the divine promise is so full and so 
free, regarding the salvation of the believer, 
is it not to be expected that the divine power 
will be used to make it sure ? The apostle 
Peter, speaking of believers, says of them, 
that they " are kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation ready to be re- 
vealed in the last time." And our blessed 



A Heartening Word. 

Lord says of his people, " I give unto them 
eternal life ; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
hand. My Father, which gave them me, is 
greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck 
them out of my Father's hand." John x. 28, 
29. Paul, writing to the Romans, declares 
that "All things work together " — how ? Sim- 
ply through the divine efficiency. For what ? 
For good to them that love God ; to them that 
are called according to his purpose. " For 
whom he did foreknow, he also did predesti- 
nate to be conformed to the image of his Son 
.... Moreover whom he did predestinate, 
them he also called : and whom he called, 
them he also justified : and whom he- justi- 
fied, them he also glorified." It is a chain 
which never can be broken. What irresist- 
ible argument ! What invincible logic ! 
"Your hope and mine, fellow Christian, is 
not in our own power of perseverance, but in 
God's preserving care of us. We shall be 
saved, not because we cling with despairing 
strength to the rocky cross around which 
surge the angry billows, but because the 
mighty arm of God is round about us, and 
therefore the waves dash against us in vain." 
Be not afraid therefore ! The power of 
God in electing, calling, justifying, sanctify- 
ing, glorifying the individual soul! Think 
of it, O believer ! It has respect to each and 



Witness of the Written Word. 

every moment of the earthly life. It extends 
to any and all needs and duties. It is fully 
equal to every emergency ; is sufficient for 
the bitterest temptation, the heaviest weight 
of sorrow or want. You and I, no matter how 
beset we may be with weakness, or weariness, 
or personal demerit, need not go a single mo- 
ment destitute of the rich comfort and sup- 
port of the everlasting arms. Can we but 
realize our entire dependence upon Him who 
faileth never, neither groweth weary ; can we 
but commit ourselves unreservedly to him, 
and suffer ourselves to be grasped by the 
Hand which keeps even the material world 
secure and fixed against the last day, we 
shall find ourselves upborne and maintained 
in a straight path ; we shall grow daily, — 
shall, at last, become perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing. 

II. 
But, further, we may not overlook the sig- 
nificance of the believer's union to Christ, 
and Christ's intercessory work in the be- 
liever's behalf. Said the Master to his disci- 
ples on one occasion, " I am the vine, ye are 
the branches : . . . without me ye can do 
nothing." And elsewhere the believer is 
called a member of that body whose head is 
Christ. How intimate, how vital, therefore, is 
the relation existing between Christ and his 

23 



A Heartening Word. 

people ! Fully appreciating the value of such 
relation, the apostle Paul declares, "Your 
life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, 
who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye 
also appear with him in glory." In a word, 
the life of the Christian believer is certain 
and cannot fail, because it is derived from 
and sustained by the life of Christ. There- 
fore said Christ, " Because /live, ye shall live 
also." Not simply to uphold them in being 
does Christ live: if he meant to indicate 
nothing further in this solemn affirmation, it 
is extremely difficult to see wherein his disci- 
ples differ from wicked men and devils, for 
it is by the divine sufferance alone that even 
they continue to be. 

And what a successful advocate the Chris- 
tian has in his Lord and Redeemer ! There 
is, truly, a vast deal of meaning in those 
tender words addressed to Peter, on the very 
verge of his profane denial of his Lord, 
" Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired 
to have you, that he may sift you as wheat : 
but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail 
not" And who can read, unmoved, that 
grand, high-priestly prayer of our suffering 
Christ, " I pray not for the world, but for 
them which thou hast given me ; for they are 
thine .... I pray not that thou shouldst 
take them out of the world, but that thou 
shouldst keep them from the evil .... 
24 



Witness of the Written Word. 

Sanctify them through thy truth : thy word is 
truth. . . . Neither pray I for these alone, 
but for them also which shall believe on me 
through their word; that they all may be 
one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in 
thee, that they also may be one in us"? 

What rare comfort and strength, then, 
may the true believer derive from such teach- 
ing, for his seasons of spiritual darkness and 
discouragement as they may occur in his 
earthly pilgrimage! For, unhappily, such 
seasons do come even to the most consistent 
Christian disciple. For physical reasons he 
may find himself at times overwhelmed with 
despondent conclusions or thoughts ; or, by 
reason of satanic craft, he may be overtaken 
with some fault, and accepting mere feeling 
as a sure indication of a state of grace, and 
not being conscious of any particularly warm 
feelings toward God, he may at once con- 
clude that he is no longer God's child. Yet, 
even so overcome, he can recall the time 
when he did seek and find the Lord, when he 
actually held sweet fellowship with the Father 
and with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is now 
walking in darkness ; his way seems totally 
obscure. What shall he do ? He may still 
know, if he will, that, though his feelings 
have suffered change and though he may not 
now be conscious of the influence of divine 
love within his heart, the love of God in 
25 



A Heartening Word. 

Christ has not changed a particle — not even 
for a moment. Having loved his own which 
were in the world he will love them to the 
end. The believer is of the number of God's 
chosen ones because of his once having come 
to Christ, accepting him by faith as his per- 
sonal Saviour. " All that the Father giveth 
me shall come to me ; and him that cometh 
to me I will in no wise cast out." " This is 
the triumphant reply which he can make to 
Satan when he would tempt him to despair, 
the rejoinder he can make to his own accus- 
ing conscience. With the assurance that no 
one can lay anything to the charge of God's 
elect, he can hurl defiance at hell and devils 
and all his accusers. God has justified him, 
and he who alone has the right to condemn 
him has died for him, and is at the right 
hand of God making present intercession 
for him." 



26 



III. 

OUR CALLING AND ELECTION. 

HOW reassuring to the anxious heart are 
the very words of Him who spake as never 
man spake, and who said of himself, " I am 
the Truth ! " Notice, for instance, the deep 
significance of such words as these: "All 
that the Father giveth me shall come to 
me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no 
wise cast out;" "This is the Father's will 
. . . ., that of all which he hath given me I 
should lose nothing;" "And I give unto 
them eternal life ; and they shall never 
perish, neither shall any man pluck them 
out of my hand. My Father, which gave 
them me, is greater than all ; and no man 
is able to pluck them out of my Father's 
hand ; " " Father, I will that they also whom 
thou hast given me, be with me where I 
am. 

These, and similar utterances of the great 
Teacher, bring into clear view the precious 
fact of the divine choice of souls — a truth 
which even the angels delight to ponder. No 
doubt, to us who are finite in our capabilities, 
27 



A Heartening Word. 

who can see barely a step in advance, who 
can understand but to a limited degree, this 
very act of God in making choice of souls, 
and in giving them to Christ as his inher- 
itance, is involved in deepest mystery. And 
we may, with intensest concern, ask, Why 
were not all men given to Christ ? yet we 
shall find our question impossible of solution 
from a merely human standpoint. Can 
finite man hope to fathom the deep and hid- 
den things of God? Is it not rather his part, 
as that of the docile child, to trust the wisdom 
of the Father, and to conclude cheerfully that 
whatever God does is right, because it is God 
who does it? 

When we look closely and unsparingly at 
ourselves and see just how unworthy we are, 
and how useless at times, how impatient and 
unspiritual, and then reflect seriously upon 
the wonderful nature of that love which has 
been revealed in Jesus Christ, — how forbear- 
ing and long-suffering it is where weak, im- 
perfect, sinful human beings are concerned, 
— we are overwhelmed, and we do not mar- 
vel that Mr. Fearing, in the allegory, should 
so often feel, "It is almost too good to be 
true." 

Observe, in this connection, that Scripture 

teaches us, in a way that even the little child 

can understand, that God chooses men and 

gives them to Christ as individuals — divine 

28 



Our Calling and Election. 

love is so specific — they are not saved in the 
mass, but singly ; that being so given to 
Christ, their number is a definite number — 
yet so vast that no man can count them — all 
their names being written in the Lamb's 
book of life, as in a census of the population ; 
that they were given to Christ before the 
foundation of the world — chosen in him from 
the beginning ; that Christ is their Redeemer 
because of a definite agreement between him- 
self and the Father, whereby he allowed 
himself to be wickedly nailed to the cross, 
laying down his own life, thus, for his 
people. 

Memory recalls an incident which occurred 
in the class-room of the beloved Dr. Charles 
Hodge in our seminary days at Princeton. 
The class, at the time, was engaged in the 
study of the subject of election, and, in the 
recitation, a member put this question to the 
professor, who was always ready, if he could, 
to meet and satisfy every difficulty : " Sup- 
pose, Doctor, I am the pastor of a church, 
and there comes to me an honest and anx- 
ious inquirer who, in our conversation, with 
evident sincerity, desires to know how he is 
to determine whether or not he is one of the 
elect, what answer, if any, can I truthfully 
give?" With that look of rare tenderness 
and solicitude which every pupil of Dr. 
Hodge can easily recall, and in tones which 
29 



A Heartening Word. 

none can ever forget who have heard them, 
the reply came : "My young brother, there 
is only one answer that can meet such an 
inquiry, and it is given in the very words of 
the Master himself : ' He that believeth on 
me hath everlasting life.' " It is enough. 
Nothing more is possible. 

Would we, indeed, know beyond all per- 
adventure that our own names are written 
in the book of life? then let us determine, 
first of all, whether or not we have come to 
Christ ; for he himself declares, for our 
guidance in this judgment, "All that the 
Father giveth me shall come to me ; and 
him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
out." Have we come to Christ ? Are we 
conscious of having our affections and will- 
power changed to the Christlike and the 
heavenly ? If we can truthfully and humbly 
affirm that we have come to Christ, and are 
endeavoring by grace to excel in whatever 
achievements are predicated of those who 
are divinely revealed as belonging to Christ, 
we surely need not doubt our calling and 
election. As the good bishop Leighton puts 
it, "He that loves may be sure that he was 
loved first, and he that chooses God for his 
delight and portion may conclude confidently^ 
that God hath chosen him to be one of those 
that shall enjoy him and be happy with him 
forever; for that our love and electing of 
30 



Our Calling and Election. 

him is but the return of the beams of his love 
shining upon us." 

By the sacrifice of his own precious life, 
the Lord Jesus secured for his people untold 
spiritual wealth, and an eternal weight of 
glory. It is all of grace ! free grace ! Eter- 
nal life is God's gift through Jesus Christ. 
And the gift is meant for all who will receive 
it. The thirsty, and those who have no 
money, may come and buy wine and milk 
without money and without price. Whoso- 
ever will, may take of the water of life freely. 
It cannot be bought. 

11 What shall I bring to thee, O Lord? 
Of what make offering ? 
What does my life, so poor, afford 
That I to thee may bring? 

" No myrrh, nor frankincense, nor gold, 
Can I as gift present, 
Like those, the wise men, who of old 
With joy o'er Jesus bent. 

" No alabaster box have I, 

Of precious ointment sweet, 
To pour before thee, while I lie 
In worship at thy feet." 

No ! Man must come to God confessing — 

" I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus, 
Trusting only thee ! 
Trusting thee for full salvation, 
Great and free. 

31 



A Heartening Word. 

" I am trusting thee for pardon ; 
At thy feet I bow ; 
For thy grace and tender mercy 
Trusting now. 

"lam trusting thee for cleansing 
In the crimson flood ; 
Trusting thee to make me holy 
By thy blood. 

" I am trusting thee to guide me ; 
Thou alone shalt lead, 
Every day and hour supplying 
All my need. 

"lam trusting thee for power ; 
Thine can never fail ; 
Words which thou thyself shalt give me 
Must prevail. 

" I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus ; 
Never let me fall ! 
I am trusting thee for ever 
And for all." 



32 



IV. 

THE IDEAL CHRISTIAN MANHOOD. 

V-/NE of the most absorbing questions that 
presses for answer in the heart of the believer 
is this : Will I ever reach the ideal Christian 
manhood? For it is not in the nature of 
sincere Christian faith to be content with 
small attainments. Simply to be saved from 
sin and its dread consequences will hardly 
satisfy such faith. 

The scriptural standard, we well know, is 
the measure of the stature of the fullness of 
Christ. How very far off it does look ! How 
impassable seems the distance intervening! 
We see, here and there, many who have 
made rare progress, and who like polished 
and stately pillars are wellnigh ready to be 
removed to yonder heavenly temple, and to 
be placed in their appointed spheres. Then 
we look at ourselves — how imperfect we are ! 
how weak ! how deformed ! Surely, the 
present is only prophetic of future disappoint- 
ment and failure ! We can never reach the 
standard ! We will never be other than the. 
most ordinary blocks ! 
3 33 



A Heartening Word. 

Of course, it is eminently proper for us to 
have some ideal before our minds as an in- 
centive in our daily struggles Godward. 
There is no true follower of Christ who has 
not such ideal, — it is his inspiration all his 
life through. Conscience — the bestowment 
of God in every soul — is ever careful to em- 
phasize the necessity of personal goodness 
and well-doing, but until there is a divine 
revelation of the nature of goodness, both in 
character and conduct, it is impossible for 
man to be good or to do good. God himself 
must be manifest in the flesh in order to re- 
veal the grand possibilities of human nature 
in their likeness to the divine nature. Hap- 
pily for us, we have in the Redeemer of man 
the perfect manifestation of deity in human- 
ity. The Son of the Most High, being God 
and man, comes to each of us as our Exam- 
ple without blemish ; more than that, he 
pledges us his strength that we may attain 
the high ideal of character and conduct. 

Scrutinize closely your own spiritual ex- 
perience. Has he not already done much in 
and with you ? And can he not and will he 
not accomplish yet more and more ? Take 
an illustration or two. In what do you be- 
hold the greatest of the wonderful, — in the 
tiny seed which has been endowed with life 
and power of development and caused to 
root itself in the soil and to penetrate the 
34 



The Ideal Christian Manhood. 

earth as a little green blade, or in the stately 
oak which, giant-like, crowns some wind- 
swept hill, growing constantly stronger and 
more enduring ? As we think of this mighty 
universe, of which our world is but an insig- 
nificant part ; as we contemplate the unnum- 
bered worlds revolving in space, each obe- 
dient to well-defined law, we are properly 
awed by the infinite power everywhere ap- 
parent and in full operation. And yet, that 
power which so fills us with the sense of the 
majestic and terrible is not nearly so formid- 
able and inspiring as that which was needed 
to create the myriads of atoms of which the 
universe is composed. To make a single 
atom demanded more energy than to fashion 
and to guide a universe. To resurrect and 
energize a soul, dead in trespasses and sins, 
indicates a greater degree of wisdom and 
power, than to effect the complete develop- 
ment of the newborn heir of God in the way 
of righteousness. 

As you look at the eagle, piercing the 
clouds in his upward flight, able with open 
eye to gaze upon the unveiled sun, it seems 
strange indeed that he should have been de- 
veloped from the featherless and impotent 
birdling in the nest, perfectly dependent for 
protection and nourishment upon the mother 
bird. You hold in your hand an acorn : it is 
difficult, but not impossible, to realize that in 
35 



A Heartening Word. 

it lies dormant the monarch of the forest; 
yet you know full well, as you look upon 
the oak in its maturity, that such was its 
origin. 

You gaze upon man, full-grown man, the 
crowning work of the divine creation, the 
lord of the material world, making the ele- 
ments his messengers and the mighty deep 
his highway ; then you betake yourself to the 
cradle wherein lies the helpless babe, appeal- 
ing so mutely yet so irresistibly to parental 
care and love, and you are strangely moved, 
if you reflect upon the matter at all, while you 
recognize these as the two intimately asso- 
ciated phases of the one human life. You go 
to Bethlehem, and, looking into the rude 
manger-cradle, you see the divine Babe, 
cherished and loved by his human mother, 
helpless and utterly dependent ; then, span- 
ning a generation of time, you behold that 
same Babe, now grown to full manhood, per- 
fect in his humanity as in his divinity, the 
Helper of the helpless, the Comforter of the 
sorrowing, the Saviour of the fallen. And 
from this all-sufficient Redeemer you look 
away to the imperfect Christian ! Oh, what 
infinite distance seems to separate the two ! 
And yet, what is it that you see but the ex- 
tremes, so to speak, of the one identical 
spiritual life ? For it is a fact that the babe 
in Christ is to become the full-grown man in 
36 



The Ideal Christian Manhood. 

Christ ! As the Redeemer lived and ad- 
vanced from infancy to childhood, and thence 
to manhood, doing fully and well the work 
set before him by the Father, and was finally 
crowned with unending glory and honor, so 
each believer is likewise to live and grow, to 
do and to be rewarded. 

Recall that the apostle Paul, writing to the 
Christians at Philippi, assured them that He 
who had begun a good work in them would 
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ ; and 
that the apostle Peter says of Christians that, 
as lively stones, they are built up a spiritual 
house. Even now in the divine mind this 
spiritual house is planned in its minutest 
part : he who seeth the end from the begin- 
ning knows each and every living stone com- 
posing its walls. He has appointed each one 
his own place from all eternity — for the divine 
purpose in Christ Jesus is an eternal purpose. 

Yet, observe, before this spiritual house is 
completed and its capstone is placed amidst 
shoutings of " Grace, grace unto it ! " the 
work of discipline is to be carried forward 
until the image of the Redeemer is brightly 
reflected from the human heart; the soul 
must first be purified by the grace and Spirit 
of the Lord, and so a meetness for its ulti- 
mate destination be wrought within. The 
Christian disciple is to abide here a season — 
the time appointed in the divine purpose — 
37 



A Heartening Word. 

that Christ may be magnified in the daily 
intercourse with men, that the doctrine of the 
Lord and Saviour may be adorned in all 
holy conversation, that the cause of truth and 
righteousness may be advanced. 

In this gracious work of sanctification, 
within and without, sharp angles of character 
are to be rounded off, unseemly excrescences 
of conduct are to chipped away, many 
roughnesses of temper are to be smoothed 
down, many flaws of mind and heart are to 
be chiseled out. 

" O blows that smite ! O hurts that pierce 
This shrinking heart of mine ! 
What are ye but the Master's tools 
Forming a work divine ? 

11 O hope that crumbles to my feet, 
O joy that mocks and flies, 
What are ye but the clogs that bind 
My spirit from the skies ? 

" Sculptor of souls, I lift to thee 
Encumbered heart and hands ; 
Spare not the chisel ; set me free, 
However dear the bands." 

And the grand fact is, as both experience 
and observation attest, that each blow of the 
master Hand, so unerring in its aim, helps in 
the spiritual formation ; the various tools 
used, though frequently cutting deeply, pro- 
duce some chiseled beauty ; every grating 
33 



The Ideal Christian Manhood. 

file of sorrow that rasps the delicate heart- 
fibers serves but to impart a more perfect 
luster, and to bring to view a diviner glory. 
Then begins the polishing process, and, in 
such process, beauties hitherto hidden are 
made to appear, and forthwith from the 
smooth surface are flung back the bright rays 
of the Sun of Righteousness. Then the 
hewn stone, no longer unsightly or deformed, 
but resplendent in its attractiveness, is ready 
for its place. 



39 



OBEDIENT SERVICE. 

iNO words could more truthfully set forth the 
very close relationship of the individual be- 
liever to his Lord, than those addressed by 
the mother of Jesus to the servants at the 
marriage feast in Cana, " Whatsoever he , 
saith unto you, do it." The relationship, in 
its highest and purest sense, is nothing more 
nor less than that of the servant to his master. 
The duty required is the immediate and un- 
questioning observance of the expressed will 
of the master. It is in fact that higher Chris- 
tian life of which we read so much in the 
Pauline epistles, and which we find so con- 
stantly enjoined upon us in the practice and 
teachings of the Redeemer. A lofty summit 
it verily is, and reached only as one is will- 
ing, hand in hand with Christ, perseveringly 
to tread the rugged bypaths of the steep as- 
cent ; yet, the summit being reached, there is 
such privilege as the world knows nothing 
of, — the privilege of sitting with the Christ in 
the heavenly places, and of hearing him say, 
" My peace I give unto you : not as the world 
41 



A Heartening Word. 

giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart 
be troubled, neither let it be afraid.'* 

Down upon the low level of indifferent 
living, God is regarded simply as the Su- 
preme Being, the Creator and Sovereign of 
the universe, — a God afar off, to be feared 
and wondered at, to be approached in prayer, 
it is true, yet only with feelings of uncer- 
tainty; and his Son Jesus Christ to be es- 
teemed chiefly for the salvation from death 
which he can bestow. 

But up in these loftier regions, where the 
sunlight is shed radiantly abroad in every 
direction, and where the air is so invigorating, 
God is not only the Supreme Being majestic 
in his holiness, but he is likewise the loving 
and faithful and sympathetic Friend of the 
trusting soul. More than that, he is the 
Father who, surpassing the tenderest of 
earthly parents, cherishes for his children a 
love which many waters cannot drown. 
And as the Son of God is viewed by a 
faith that grows clearer day by day, as the 
soul is thus drawn into more confidential 
relations to its Redeemer, the will of the 
Father is seen more and more unmistakably 
to be perfectly righteous in its requirements, 
and the obedience it wins to itself is glad and 
free, — not like that of the slave, constrained 
and halting. Hence, from experiencing a 
mere grateful sentiment toward God for all 
42 



Obedient Service. 

that he has done in the soul's behalf, the 
soul mounts upward to the regions of infinite 
peace and joy. And what loyal and joyous 
allegiance it is ! Now does the believer know 
what the apostle means, when he speaks of 
grace reigning through righteousness unto 
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

The kingdom of God has come into the 
heart with power, but not without struggle. 
The " one simple purpose of loyal, steadfast 
stewardship and service " comes not unasked, 
nor stays unurged. "Easy things are of little 
worth. The spontaneities are mostly bad; 
mere weeds and briers. Real goodness is as 
much an industry, as much a business, as 
any profession, trade, or pursuit, of men. 
Every morning early, and then again at nine 
o'clock, and then at twelve, and then at three, 
and then at five, the owner of the vineyard 
is in the market-place hiring his laborers. 
The early, lost hours are forgiven us; but 
when the bargain is once made, there is 
nothing for us but work till the great red sun 
goes burning down." Mr. Moody, once, in 
reply to a certain question, said, " I do not 
believe there is any man on the face of the 
earth that is happier than the man who is 
just carrying out the will of God, whatever 
it is ; and I believe the most unhappy Chris- 
tian is the man who is constantly going 
against the will of God." 
43 



A Heartening Word. 

This life is not a game which may be 
played with a few successful moves, and then 
the prize be won. There is not a man, how- 
ever skillful or prudent or far-seeing, who 
can determine, with perfect accuracy, the re- 
sults of present action, — not even one hour 
hence. And there is no action, even the 
slightest, nor a word, that has not an eternal 
relationship. Words do not die, deeds never 
cease to exist — they live on and on, forever 
potent in their influences. Hence the need 
of a mind infinitely wise and good, to direct 
the finite being in the whole course of the 
earthly existence, that the divine glory may 
be advanced, and that the divine will may 
be completely realized. What cause for re- 
joicing there is in the knowledge that God 
in Christ is our sufficient Guide in all the 
affairs of life, influencing us aright in our 
judgments where human necessities are con- 
cerned, while helping us in our efforts to live 
for the glory of him who hath loved and 
redeemed us. 

The prayer of Saul of Tarsus, as he was 
prostrated on the road to Damascus and 
there converted, was, M Lord, what wilt thou 
have me to do ? " To do ! Observe, it is a 
prayer for divine guidance into service, a 
prayer of entire and heartfelt consecration, 
revealing the servant's willingness to do all 
the Master's pleasure, and his conviction that 
44 



Obedient Service. 

the Master had a just and undeniable claim 
to every talent, to every moment, and to 
appoint every sphere of toil and of suffering. 
It was indeed an epochal moment in the life 
of the gifted Tarsian to which he was now 
brought in the providence of God, and in 
which he was summoned to a larger, fuller 
and more abounding life. 

May we not say that there are likewise 
44 epochs in our lives when we see that the 
old way of living, however full of hope it 
may once have been, is not the way of life 
in which we must henceforth set our feet? 
The low ambitions of the past are seen to be 
shameful. Dreams of power and happiness, 
once so fair, have grown repulsive. Needs 
once embracing our estimate of the worth of 
life are felt no longer. Old hopes are now 
forgotten. New revelations of truth make 
wrong what once was right. Things once 
the end of life are seen to be but means. 
The cup of the past is full, and to give it 
more of life is waste. We are at the end of 
the old way, and to turn our steps backward, 
in the paths from which we are clearly called, 
is to outrage conscience and deny the living 
Christ. The Lord comes to us in some sud- 
den flash of light ; some proffered opportu- 
tunity of larger service ; some lifelong sorrow 
that comes to make the heart its home ; some 
fruitful fellowship with a new friend, whose 
45 



A Heartening Word. 

life reveals hitherto unseen possibilities in 
our humanity; some great vacancy left in 
the soul by a departed hope ; ... in some 
moment like one of these the Son of God 
comes to each of us, perhaps when we think 
not, bidding us arise and enter upon a di- 
viner course of life." There is ever this 
thought for our encouragement in all such 
experiences, that whenever the Son of God 
comes to summon the soul to action, espe- 
cially by way of the cross, he invariably 
leads. He himself came into the world for 
the sole purpose of doing the will of his 
Father to its utmost demand, and the mind 
of Christ, respecting this entire matter of 
obedience, is very manifest in his attitude in 
the garden of agony, and in his sublime 
utterance, " Not my will, but thine, be done.'* 
Hence the highest point in Christian experi- 
ence to which the individual believer can 
ever hope to attain, is just to have the same 
mind that was in his divine Lord, and to 
walk even as he walked. 

The one consolation that comes to our 
hearts in the recollection of these truths is 
that not one, sustaining this most intimate 
relation to Christ, need ever have any fear 
about what is to come. The way may seem 
dark and uninviting; the heart may be 
tempted to question the wisdom of any ap- 
pointment, but dread there will not be, and 
46 



Obedient Service. 

cannot be, so long as there is the conscious- 
ness of the preserving care and power of 
Him who has called. Believers, we are told, 
are kept, or garrisoned, by the power of God 
through faith, and it is the peculiar province 
of faith, sustained by grace, to lead the soul 
through darkness unto the light. 

What difference need it make to any of 
us, after all — if we are truly consecrated to 
our Master's purpose — whether we toil for 
him in the sunshine or in the darkness ; 
whether our steps are set arrudst pleasant 
places, or in the rugged paths of a sorrowful 
experience ? Surely it is all one and the 
same thing to him who is constantly recog- 
nizing the divine presence. The chief anxiety 
is to do the work intrusted by the Master, 
and then, if the storm comes, if the way is 
all hedged about, it will be because thus the 
work is to be perfected. 

The sad fact is that we too often forget 
that our Lord Christ "never pointed out a 
path of duty, or commanded a service, or 
disclosed a new career of life, that had not 
somewhere in it a Gethsemane and a Cal- 
vary." It is for him to say how we shall go, 
whether beneath cloudless skies, in ease and 
comfort, or amidst distress and pain and 
weariness. And if we have the confidence 
in his judgment to which it is entitled, we 
shall know what is meant by the peace pass- 
47 



A Heartening Word. 

ing understanding, we shall appreciate the 
joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, we 
shall be assured that what he says is right, 
that all his appointments are good and true. 
44 Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it." 
Do it to-day, and to-morrow, and still to- 
morrow. Be watchful ever; pray without 
ceasing ; carry patiently the cross that daily 
may be laid in the pathway ; sow the seed 
that is given you ; wait upon the Lord in 
faith ; walk with God with a new experience 
at each step of his sustaining and strengthen- 
ing grace, "dictating no terms to him. At 
whatever cost accept the service offered you, 
high or low, far or near. Then burn to the 
socket.' ■ 

'■ And He hath said, How beautiful the feet! 
The feet so weary, travel-stained and worn ; 
The feet that humbly, patiently have borne 
The toilsome way, the pressure and the heat. 

" With weary, human feet, he, day by day, 
Once trod this earth to work his acts of love ; 
And every step is chronicled above 
His servants take to follow in his way." 



48 



VI. 
THE PREVAILING INTERCESSION. 

1 HERE is one incident in the gospel nar- 
rative that is rich in its suggestiveness, 
especially to such as are inclined to be weak 
or wavering in their faith — it is seen in our 
Lord's treatment of Peter in that last solemn 
yet tender interview he held with his dis- 
ciples in the upper room of blessed memory. 
After the institution of the holy supper, and 
just before passing to the awful agony of the 
garden, the Master says, "Simon, Simon, 
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that 
he may sift you as wheat : but I have prayed 
for thee, that thy faith fail not : and when 
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." 
If we are taught any one particular lesson 
by such gracious treatment of the individual 
disciple, it is surely that, while the most 
ample care and love are the divine bestow- 
ment upon each of the entire band of the 
disciples, the same blessings are afforded, in 
a much more abundant measure, to those 
among the disciples who may have special 
need. 

4 49 



A Heartening Word. 

Who could possibly know so well, as 
Jesus, how sore was Peter's need ? and it was 
all the more deep and urgent because of the 
vehement boast of loyal attachment : others 
might desert the Master in his time of trial, 
but he, Peter, would be true and unfailing, 
come what might ! None could appreciate, 
as did Jesus, the serious lack in Peter's char- 
acter, and therefore the necessity of his being 
fortified against the attack of the tempter; 
none understood so fully the importance of 
a perfecting of Peter's faith, through the 
elimination of every selfish element, that he 
might become, in time, rock-like in his de- 
fense of the truth, and unyielding in his 
resistance of every form of error and unbelief. 
The night of trial was very close at hand, 
the time when the powers of darkness would 
mass themselves for the defeat of the Son of 
God. Fierce assaults were shortly to be 
made upon the chosen ones, and unless there 
was special grace for the one of their num- 
ber the most easily tempted, sad and sorrow- 
ful would be the result. Hence, because 
Peter was really the weakest he needed the 
most strengthening ; because he was so rash 
and impulsive he required to be restrained, 
to become more stable and trustworthy ; and 
so in his behalf the Lord Christ besought the 
divine grace and blessing. 

The constant remembrance of this char- 
50 



The Prevailing Intercession. 

acteristic of our divine Redeemer must ever 
tend greatly to our individual peace and joy. 
Not to the robust and sturdy disciple, whose 
caution and prudence may always be ex- 
pected to guide clear of danger, does he come 
the most frequently with help and sympathy, 
but to the weak and discouraged one. He 
naturally has a more tender regard for the 
blind, and the halt, and the lame, in the 
household of faith, than for those of his dis- 
ciples who are in the enjoyment of the full 
vigor of life and health ; who, fleetfooted, can 
go quickly on errands of mercy ; who, able- 
handed, can readily undertake and perform 
the most exacting duties of love and good 
will to men. 

If it be true, as has been said, that prayer 
is the nerve that moves the muscle of Om- 
nipotence, then we can easily understand 
what a train of forces the Redeemer started 
in motion for Peter's defense, as he addressed 
the throne of grace. If, as Christ told the 
Roman magistrate during his mock trial in 
the judgment hall, twelve legions of angels 
would instantly be at his command, did he 
but request such a bodyguard, certainly 
there would be vouchsafed to the weak disci- 
ple all that was needed to strengthen him 
and keep him from a sorrowful eclipse, did 
his Lord and Master only seek such a bless- 
ing in his behalf. And this is precisely what 
5i 



A Heartening Word. 

he did : he offered for him urgent supplica- 
tions ; he interceded with the Father to for- 
tify and establish his impetuous disciple and 
friend, that he might not become the prey of 
the evil one. 

Of the Redeemer it is just as true to-day as 
ever, that he is making intercession for us. 
Think of it, especially you who may have 
weak and wavering Christian faith: Jesus 
prays for you! Nay more: even before you 
began to be, he knew you, foreseeing your 
life, as you have thus far lived it in the 
world — all the temptations and trials to 
which you have been subjected, all the grief 
and sorrow through which you have been 
called to pass, all your anxiety and desire to 
live godly in this present world ; and he pro- 
vided for you whatever grace and wisdom 
you have been appropriating. If you have 
been making any progress in your spiritual 
career, if you are any better or wiser than in 
the past, it is because your Saviour has been 
invariably and with full sympathy interested 
in your development. 

Then, too, he knows all the future, as you 
must meet it— all the bitterness you shall 
experience, all the assaults that will yet be 
directed, for your overthrow, against your 
soul by the great adversary ; he knows the 
measure of joy and peace it will be right for 
you to have, and he is even now providing 
52 



The Prevailing Intercession. 

for your safety, that you may be enabled to 
go forward and to increase in knowledge and 
true holiness. 

You cannot fall : possibly you will hesitate, 
and even stumble, but you cannot forever 
break away from the divine grasp. For 
what did the Master say ? " And I give to 
them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, 
neither shall any man pluck them out of my 
hand. My Father, which gave them me, is 
greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck 
them out of my Father's handy No, you 
can never break away from the divine grasp ! 
Even Peter was overtaken and stumbled. 
How grievous was that denial of his Lord ! 
Straight from that upper room, wherein had 
been enacted the most solemn rite conceiv- 
able, a room fragrant with the tenderest 
memories, Peter went forth, forsaking him to 
whom he had vowed the most steadfast loy- 
alty. Can it be that he forgot those words, 
" But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith 
fail not " ? Did he lose sight of the predicted 
possibility of his being overcome by the ene- 
my, in the supreme hour of his Lord's un- 
happy trial ? There is, however, this com- 
fort, that Peter, while undergoing the terrible 
strain of that night in the judgment hall, did 
not suffer a total extinguishment of faith, 
and it was for that especially that the Master 
interceded. His confidence, for the time be- 

53 



A Heartening Word. 

ing, it is true, did weaken, and he did fail, 
most miserably, to maintain his stand as a 
brave comforter and defender, to which he 
had voluntarily pledged himself; but as we 
behold his tearful repentance, produced by 
that wonderful look with which his Master 
regarded him, after his profane denial, we 
must feel, surely, that his feet were not yet 
swept ruthlessly from the abiding foundation. 
Through the gateway of humble penitence, 
sad and tearful, indeed, he was led back by 
the angel of mercy, to Him who can and 
does so freely forgive and restore. 

Yes, you may stumble along, at times, in 
the path of life, but you can never perish ; 
Satan may do his best to entice you, and you 
may, to some extent, lend an ear to his allur- 
ing voice, but your Lord will look at you 
likewise, when the right moment comes, and 
you too will be heartbroken and undone 
because of your weakness and sin. Yet he 
who, with only a look, breaks down, can also 
build up ; he who wounds can also heal : he 
has prayed, is praying now for you, and when 
the darkness is passed and the storm is 
ceased, the sun will shine with undiminished 
radiance ; after your denial, whatever form it 
has assumed, your devotion to Christ will be 
all the purer and more constant. 

The trying ordeal, through which the weak 
believer may have to pass, may be regarded 
54 



The Prevailing Intercession. 

as a good preparation for future usefulness. 
The Master evidently intended to intimate as 
much when he said to Peter, " When thou 
art converted, strengthen thy brethren," — 
when thou shalt have passed through the 
sifting process, give thyself to the blessed 
work of helping others. Certainly he would 
come out of the conflict with new knowledge, 
he would know himself better, would be bet- 
ter able to estimate his own powers and limi- 
tations, and would in so far be more fit than 
ever to be a helper and guide to those about 
him. After that dread night when Satan 
so roughly used him, Peter's spiritual stature 
was not so great in his own eyes as when 
he so vehemently and so thoughtlessly af- 
firmed his fidelity to his Lord — all the chaff 
in his composition had been forcibly sifted 
away ; hence, as we behold him on the day 
when the Holy Spirit came so overpower- 
ingly upon the assembled multitudes in Jeru- 
salem, he seems a vastly different man — not 
only seems, but is different, being now under 
the supreme control of the divine Spirit, 
which explains his burning words, his irre- 
sistible eloquence, resulting in the conver- 
sion of thousands of immortal souls. 

What a blessed privilege it is that we can 
have the dross of our natures purged away, 
that we can have the objectionable features 
of pride and temper and self-love forever 

55 



A Heartening Word. 

removed from us ! And we should very often 
and very much desire such separating and 
cleansing process, should have in our hearts 
some such longing as Miss Havergal has so 
beautifully expressed in poetic verse, 

11 O lead me, Lord, that I may lead 

The wandering and the wavering feet ; 

feed me, Lord, that I may feed 

Thy hungering ones with manna sweet. 

11 O strengthen me, that while I stand 

Firm on the Rock, and strong in thee, 

1 may stretch out a loving hand 

To wrestlers with the troubled sea. 

14 O teach me, Lord, that I may teach 

The precious things thou dost impart ; 
And wing my words, that they may reach 
The hidden depths of many a heart. 

" O fill me with thy fullness, Lord, 

Until my very heart and soul o'erflow, 
In kindling thought and glowing word, 
Thy love to tell, thy praise to show." 

And yet there are times, how many ! when 
this can be accomplished more surely through 
the instrumentality of the scorching furnace 
of true and humble penitence : there indeed 
the dross is left behind, and only the solid 
gold of a godly character is brought to view. 
The fires are controlled by the divine Hand, 
the hand of him who knows so well how to 
purify and to bless. 

What need it matter, after all, if the expe- 
56 



The Prevailing Intercession. 

rience is that of affliction, or sorrow, or sick- 
ness, or pain, — the letting loose against the 
soul of all the artful devices of which Satan 
is so clearly the master — what need it matter, 
if only one can say, as the time of the pil- 
grimage to the Celestial Country shortens, 
"By the grace of God I am what I am"? 
Paul, by a most blessed experience, knew 
that the more fully he fellowshiped with 
Christ in the sufferings of the cross, the more 
completely he came under the power of the 
endless life, and therefore was the more per- 
fectly qualified for his daily toil in the 
Master's service. Hence, in so far as the 
Christian is comforted in his sorrow he is able 
to point other suffering and sorrowing ones 
to the God of all comfort and consolation ; 
if he is tempted and delivered, and has his 
feet set in a straight path, if he receives 
daily strength according to daily need, he 
can go to those who are oppressed with the 
burdens and cares and difficulties of this life, 
to those who seem breaking beneath the 
weight of grave responsibilities, witnessing in 
His behalf who is able to guide and to uphold 
and to make faithful. 

" I would be joyful as my days go by, 
Counting God's mercies to me. He who bore 
Life's heaviest cross is mine evermore ; 
And I, who wait his coming, shall not I 
On his sure word rely ? 

57 



A Heartening Word. 

So, if sometimes the way be rough, and sleep 

Be heavy for the grief he sends to me, 

Or at my waking I would only weep, 

Let me be mindful that these things must be, 

To work his blessed will until he come 

And take my hand and lead me 

Safely home." 



58 



VII. 
THE CELESTIAL COUNTRY. 



T 



HEY "build too low, who build beneath 
the skies." 

The supreme moment in the life of God's 
beloved servant Paul was that in which he 
was about to achieve the greatest victory- 
possible to man, the victory over death and 
the grave. The thought and hope of such 
glorious conquest had animated and sus- 
tained him through many years of suffering 
and toil, and now, in the divine ordering of 
events, he has come to the moment of the 
wondrous consummation. With manacled 
hand, in chill prison cell, on the eve of mar- 
tyrdom, he pens, to his dearly beloved son 
in the faith, this significant message : I am 
already being poured out as a sacrificial 
offering, and my departing time is near ; I 
have completed the glorious contest ; I have 
gone over the whole course marked out for 
the race ; I have kept the faith : henceforth 
there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
ness which the Lord, the righteous Judge, 
shall give to me at that day. 
59 



A Heartening Word. 

The very last charge to the youthful bishop, 
no wonder it is given in the most solemn 
form, to deepen, doubtless, his impression of 
the realities of the future world, and to lead 
him to believe that they should ever outweigh 
all the present. And how are such words 
like a veritable "prelude at heaven's gate to 
the immortal anthem to be sung within " ! 
They are indeed, as has been suggested, " a 
death-paean of matchless sublimity, as cover- 
ing the retrospect and prospect of a Christ- 
like life, a life of loyal love to God and 
man." The apostle saw before him, "at a 
little distance, the doom of an unrighteous 
magistrate, and the sword of a bloodstained 
executioner ; but he appealed to the sentence 
of a juster Judge, who would soon change 
the fetters of the criminal into the wealth of 
the conqueror ; he looked beyond the transi- 
tory present ; the tribunal of Nero faded from 
his sight, and the vista was closed by the 
judgment seat of Christ." Now the only 
remaining thing to be done is to die: but 
what is death to such an one as Paul? 

When we try to estimate the grandeur of 
the change from the corruptible to the incor- 
ruptible, from the mortal to the immortal ; as 
we think of the eternal blessedness already 
entered upon in the very moment of the 
change, we instinctively take upon our lips 
the words of Paul, with which he boldly 
60 



The Celestial Country. 

challenges the seeming supremacy of man's 
last enemy — " O death, where is thy sting ? 
O grave, where is thy victory ? . . . Thanks 
be to God, which giveth us the victory 
through our Lord Jesus Christ " — and we 
feel that not more completely nor more suit- 
ably could the believer's mastership over 
death be set forth. 

The life of the Christian as lived in the 
world, in much weakness it may be, in weari- 
ness and pain ofttimes, — what is it but one of 
the grandeurs of God's providences? And 
his death, come how or when it may, — what 
is it but the very glory of those same provi- 
dences ? To our sight and thought death is 
only weakness ; he makes it power. We, in 
the poverty of human apprehension, call it 
simply a departure out of this world ; he in 
the wealth of his infinite comprehension, 
terms it a triumphant entrance into his king- 
dom. 

You look upon the nest wherein the mother 
bird only a little while ago brought forth her 
young ; whatever of life was there has gone, 
now nothing abides but a rejected nest and 
shattered shell. Restricting thought to these, 
you are inclined to say, What destruction is 
here ! what disaster is this ! But when turn- 
ing from these you look upward into the 
bright and beautiful blue of the heavens ; 
when you gaze outward upon the works of 
61 



A Heartening Word. 

God's hand in nature, beholding the divine 
goodness and wisdom everywhere manifest, 
seeing in reality a world instinct with life and 
beauty, and vocal with praise, you at once 
recall your premature judgment, and say, 
This is not destruction, this is not disaster ; 
this bursting of the shell is verily a relief, and 
is profitable; the life that was intended for 
something better and grander, after its period 
of partial development, has broken through 
its environs, and passed victoriously into a 
world unspeakably more glorious and more 
enduring. 

It was a favorite thought of John Howe, 
whenever he reflected upon the decease of 
the believer, that it is but a translation out of 
a valley of death into a region of perfect and 
everlasting life — it is preeminently a birth 
into a world more lightsome, more pure, and 
more glorious. 

Of that better land, into which the per- 
fected soul is ushered with the rejoicings 
of ministering spirits, we are not left in utter 
ignorance. The Celestial City is not entirely 
hidden from our view. Taking our place by 
the side of the exiled disciple upon Patmos, 
we shall see it even as he saw it in apocalyp- 
tic vision : rich in its gates of pearl ; its walls 
resplendent with the brilliancy of jasper, and 
sapphire, and emerald ; its streets of pure 
gold, never "deformed by the thorns and 
62 



The Celestial Country. 

weeds of a sin-bearing soil ; " its pure river 
of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 
out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ; 
its tree of life in the midst of the street and 
on either side of the river, yielding its fruit 
and its leaves for the healing of the nations ; 
its atmosphere pure and invigorating, and 
not once disturbed by the sighs of distress or 
pain. In the Celestial City is no more curse : 
but the throne of God and of the Lamb is in 
it; and his servants serve him; there they 
see his face ; there his name is in their fore- 
heads ; there is no night there ; and they 
need no candle, neither light of the sun, for 
the Lord God giveth them light; and he 
wipes away all tears from their eyes. 

Is it to be wondered at that the apostle 
Paul, with his entrancing and unutterable 
views of the heavenly state, and animated by 
his intense devotion to his Lord, should have 
desired to depart and to be with Christ, 
which to him was far better? No doubt, 
when immediately confronted by martyrdom, 
he was comforted greatly by the memory of 
his past life spent in the service of the Mas- 
ter. How he could exult, " I have fought the 
good fight, I have kept the faith !" Even so 
is it with the believer to-day who receives the 
summons to depart and to be with Christ. 
It is far better to go. It was, truly, an in- 
estimable privilege to be permitted to spend 
63 



A Heartening Word. 

and to be spent in doing God's will, — in 
ministering to the needy, in speaking words 
of cheer and comfort, in binding up the 
broken-hearted, and in encouraging the weak 
and desponding ones, — but now that the 
Master calls, now that it is the divine will to 
lay down the burden of life, it is far, far bet- 
ter to go ; to go and be with him who is love, 
to be with him where there is no more sin, 
no more pain, no more death. 

Think of the reward to which the be- 
liever hastens, in thus gladly responding to 
the divine summons ! If there have been in- 
deed years of activity and holy zeal in the 
service of the Redeemer, such activity and 
zeal are so closely inwrought with the very 
texture of his soul as to render a separation 
impossible. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is 
lost: 



" The look of sympathy, the gentle word, 
Spoken so low that only angels heard ; 
The secret art of pure self-sacrifice, 
Unseen by men, but marked by angels' eyes, — 
These are not lost. 

" The sacred music of a tender strain, 
Wrung from a poet's heart by grief and pain 
And chanted timidly, with doubt and fear, 
To busy crowds, who scarcely paused to hear,— 

These are not lost. 
/ 
" The kindly plans devised for others' good, 
So seldom guessed, so little understood ; 
64 



The Celestial Country. 

The quiet, steadfast love that strove to win 
Some wanderer from the ways of sin, — 
These are not lost. 

" Not lost, O Lord ! for in thy City bright 
Our eyes shall see the past by clearer light, 
And things long hidden from our gaze below 
Thou wilt reveal ; and we shall surely know 
These are not lost." 

Think, too, of the joyful reunions in the 
Celestial City. The social life upon earth 
is full of its sweet attractiveness in many 
instances, but it is not intended to be 
permanent, nor could we wish it to be so. 
Now and again, one and another drops out 
of the ranks, passing into the higher realm, 
into the more perfect life. Who can meas- 
ure the joy and satisfaction with which souls, 
separated for a time, meet in the Father's 
house — meet nevermore to part / We think 
of them, in the ineffable brightness of the 
heavenly world, instantly and quickly recog- 
nizing each other's presence, and, with un- 
bounded delight, holding fellowship respect- 
ing all that God has done for them. Hence 
we can fully appreciate the aptness of 
Charles Kingsley's remark when, speaking 
of the earthly bliss, he declares that it is 
"the sacrament of a higher union. Torn 
will be the thorn from every rose, and sweet- 
ened will be every nectar-cup to perfect se- 
curity of blessedness in this life, to feel that 
5 65 



A Heartening Word. 

there is more in store for us, that all expres- 
sions of love here are but dim shadows of a 
union which shall be perfect, if we will but 
work here so as to work out our salvation." 

"What Mary's cottage at Bethany had 
been to the little company during the holy 
week, with its quiet rest after the daily tur- 
moil of Jerusalem ; what some humble house 
on the shore of Galilee was to St. John, with 
its associations of Salome ; what the great 
temple was to the pious Jews, with its pres- 
ence of the Eternal, that on the higher scale 
was heaven. Jesus availed himself of a 
wealth of tender recollections and placed 
heaven in the heart of humanity when he 
said, ' My Father's house.' 

"Any view of the future may be fairly tried 
by this criterion — does it strengthen, gladden, 
inspire us in the present ? Whenever this 
question is put, we turn to Jesus with his 
doctrine of continuity. Where the traditional 
forecast fails is in the absence of hope. It 
takes all purpose from our present effort, 
whose hard-won gains in service are to be 
flung away. It takes all opportunity from 
the future, which is to be a state of practical 
inertia. It is the depreciation of the market 
place, the workshop, the study; it is the 
vindication of a Trappist monastery. Where 
the forecast of Jesus tells is in the spirit of 
hope; it invests the most trivial or sordid 
66 



The Celestial Country. 

details of this life with significance, changing 
them into the elementary exercises of a great 
science ; it points to the future as the heights 
of life to which we are climbing out of this 
narrow valley. One of the most pathetic 
sights in this life is to see a dying man strug- 
gling to the last in his calling, putting another 
touch to his unfinished picture, adding an- 
other page to his half- written book. ' Art is 
long ; life is short ' comes to our mind, but 
how stands the case ? If the monkish heaven 
be true, then this foolish mortal would better 
be done with art or letters, for they can have 
no place in the land to which he hasteth. 
If Jesus' heaven be true, then he is bound 
to gather the last penny of interest on his 
talents, and make himself fit for his new 
work. Jesus heartens his followers by an 
assurance that not one hour of labor, not one 
grain of attainment, not one honest effort on 
to the moment when the tools of earth drop 
from our hands, but will tell on the after life." 
As we are permitted, so frequently, to look 
upon lives that are lived in all holy obedience 
to the divine will ; that abound in loving and 
cheerful labors for the Master; that are so 
helpful and encouraging to the needy and to 
the tempted ; whose quiet yet positive in- 
fluence is felt beyond the bounds of the home 
circle ; that are transformed into the image 
of the heavenly, the Christlike features grow- 
67 



A Heartening Word. 

ing ever more distinct — we may see indis- 
putable evidence of the spiritual presence 
of him who declared, " I will not leave you 
comfortless : I will come to you." And then, 
when the earthly course is run, when the 
daily toil is done, when the appointed mis- 
sion is fulfilled ; in that hour, when the soul 
draws nearer the bound of life where we lay 
our burdens down, it is the same Voice, the 
voice of the same blessed Saviour and Friend 
that says, "Be not afraid; in my Father's 
house are many mansions ; I have come to 
receive you unto myself." And the faith of 
those who remain can see the glorified soul 
and the Redeemer holding closest fellowship 
in paradise, even as we look upon the en- 
rapturing scene of the transfiguration of our 
Lord upon the mount. 

Those whom we often think of and speak 
of as dead are, in reality, not dead, but are 
living with Jesus in heaven. Living with 
Jesus ! How, then, can we wish to call them 
back to our side, to enter again into their 
former associations with ourselves ? Would 
we, indeed, have them again to take up the 
dread battle with sin, — to suffer, once more, 
grief and pain ? The presence of the Re- 
deemer is so glorious, and the blessedness of 
those who have gone to be with him is so 
beyond finite estimate, that instead of longing 
for the reunion in this world, we have the 
68 



The Celestial Country. 

same ardent craving that Paul had, when he 
found himself in a strait betwixt two, having 
a desire to depart and to be with Christ, 
which is far better. We would gladly resign 
all things earthly to enter into the beatific 
state and to enjoy the glad mutual recog- 
nitions in glory. Yet we patiently abide here, 
knowing it is our Father's will ; nevertheless 
we wait for the summons that shall usher us 
to our eternal rest. 

Our varied experiences here are surely of 
such a character as naturally lead us to look 
with interest and hope to that house of the 
many mansions, to that better land where the 
inhabitants never say, "I am sick;" where 
death never obtrudes its unwelcome pres- 
ence ; and where sorrow never is permitted. 
If indeed we are the Lord's own, bound to 
him by a living faith, and by a hope that can 
never make ashamed, we can truly say of 
him: 

" Thou art coming ! We are waiting 
With a hope that cannot fail, 
Asking not the day or hour, 
Anchored safe within the veil. 

" Thou art coming ! Thou art coming ! 
We shall meet thee on thy way ; 
Thou art coming ! We shall see thee, 
And be like thee on that day." 

So the blessed work is carried on from 

6 9 



A Heartening Word. 

step to step. Soon the purpose of God in 
the earthly life will be fully accomplished. 
Soon will be heard the glad summons " Come 
up higher," and right joyful will be the 
response. There, in the temple not made 
with hands, the soul is presented faultless 
before the presence of the divine glory with 
exceeding joy. With the sorrows of earth 
ended, its duties faithfully performed, its con- 
flicts patiently endured, and its heat and 
burden heroically borne, the soul may now 
well be satisfied, having awaked in the like- 
ness of God, and seeing him as he is. He 
looks upon the King in his beauty. He 
adores unceasingly the dear Redeemer who 
purchased him with his own precious blood. 



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